Chapter 34 The First Stop
More than fifty victims in ragged clothes were walking feebly on the road. On the left was the cracked farmland, and on the right was the river with a large shoal exposed. The scorching sun above refused to hide. Behind the clouds.
Behind the victims, a group of local farmers followed with simple weapons from a distance, fearing that they would turn around and come back.
At noon, the group of victims finally moved to the other side of the boundary marker of their territory, and the farmers breathed a sigh of relief.
But their work is not over yet, they have to go back to monitor another group of victims crossing the border.
At this time, an elderly priest came forward.
“Baron Wesson has built a rest area in front. If everyone works harder, we will be able to have lunch soon!”
To be a priest, you must first have a loud voice and speak loudly. Be very energetic, otherwise people sitting farther away during the sermon will not be able to hear the sound.
After hearing the news brought by the priest, the victims gained more strength in their lead-filled feet and moved forward a little faster.
Among these victims, a middle-aged man walking at the front was tall, but as thin as the others. His hair and beard were messy and covered with grass clippings and dirt, and his face - especially Nose - full of dirt.
He was carrying an old woman on his back, and the old woman was also carrying a small package.
The priest who came to report the news looked around the victims, and then whispered to the priest who was following the victims: "After lunch later, let the 'old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant' and their families go by carriage first Let’s go to the camp.”
The accompanying priest is now the backbone of this group of victims. He is somewhat familiar with these victims, so he went over and said to the middle-aged man carrying the old woman: “Huo Zhenploz, After you finish eating, you can take Old Mrs. Caspar to the camp."
Hozhenpouloz just nodded numbly.
One day in the early spring of this year, he was preparing to grab something from Mrs. Caspar’s house. Unexpectedly, when he was about to break in, there was a loud noise from the direction of the river embankment, and soon the water in the village began to flood. Spread over the instep.
Hojenpouloz had forgotten what he was thinking at that time. When he came to his senses, he was already carrying old Mrs. Caspar on his back, holding the stone mill that he wanted to grab this time that would make a musical sound when it was turned. It was difficult to walk in flood water that was about to reach my knees.
The two came to the hill outside the village. When they turned around, they found that the floodwater was as high as the dining table table. Many houses had collapsed. From time to time, they saw people and livestock struggling in the flood.
It seems that a whole year of water came to this land at once. The floods receded and a white land was left. Then came the continuous high temperature and rainless weather from early spring to early summer. The wells in the village were all brought by the floods. Silt fills up.
When someone showed symptoms of the plague, the landowner immediately ran back to the castle, pulled up the drawbridge and closed the gate, and people planning to rebuild their homes fled for their lives.
Bypassing a small forest, there was a fence in front of it, with a shed built inside. The smell in the air was like a stimulant, causing many victims to rush over with all their strength.
"Don't be anxious! Don't run! There is enough food!"
The priests shouted loudly.
But those victims are not willing to listen. People who are extremely hungry can do anything.
The knights sent by the local lords were not as easy to talk to as the priests. As soon as they stretched out their long sticks, they tripped several people and knocked several people on the head. These people squatted on the ground obediently.
Hozhenpouloz walked slowly with old Mrs. Kasper on his back, and like several other residents with their families, they did not run with the others.
The accompanying priest went up and said a few words to the knights, and asked Huo Zhenplozi and several of the victims with their children to go and receive food first.
A young monk came over and took Huo Zhenploz to the table and chairs. He first put old Mrs. Caspar down, then asked him to wash his hands, and then received food.
Frederick set up several rest areas in front to give the victims some food, promote the policy, and at the same time screen the patients to prevent the plague from entering the camp.
Today, Frederick dressed up as a young monk and came here to see the situation. Some things were as he expected, but there was nothing he could do about it.
According to his standards, each person has a bowl of soup of about 500ml and a half kilogram of multi-grain steamed buns per meal. The lord here mixed a pot of concentrated soup with four pots of water, then threw in the multigrain steamed buns and cooked them into a pot of paste. The "exquisite and expensive" slime bowls and spoons were all turned into ordinary wooden bowls collected from the people. Spoon.
Even the plastic bags containing concentrated soup and multigrain steamed buns are gone. The soups are all concentrated in clay pots, and the multigrain steamed buns are packed in rattan baskets.
What could Frederick do? He could only ask the priests to ensure that the soup was boiled for five minutes before being eaten. If the steamed buns were moldy, at least remove the moldy parts, and the wooden bowls and wooden spoons should be scalded with boiling water.
Huo Zhenplozi went over to wash his hands, followed the queue to receive two wooden bowls and wooden spoons, and came back with two bowls of paste.
Today's soup base is an ordinary bean soup, with a little more water, but still a little bit of spices. The cooked multigrain steamed buns turn into a thick paste after stirring.
In his opinion, the aroma of this bowl of gooey food was comparable to that of roasted pig.
He brought the paste to the table and saw the young monk talking to the old lady Caspar, but the old lady didn't respond at all, like a stone.
"It's useless." Huo Zhenplozi put down the bowl and pointed to his head, "She saw her grandson being washed away by the water..."
Then he Whispered in the ear of old Mrs. Caspar: "This is what Caspar sent to you."
Old Mrs. Caspar has just transformed from a decaying statue into a human being, Pick up a spoon and eat slowly.
Huo Zhenploz shook his head and said to Frederick: "This is the only way now."
After that, he drank the paste in the bowl in one breath, and then licked it clean.
Frederick asked: "Is she your mother?"
Hozchenplozzi said the excuse he had already thought of: "She is my aunt."
At this time, each of the victims had been given a bowl of paste, and there was still a little left in the pot. The people here poured two buckets of well water into it and prepared to boil it.
Some people couldn't wait any longer and wanted to go over and drink directly. As a result, the person maintaining order stood near the pot with a stick, and no one dared to take another step.
Frederick did not dare to let them drink raw water. If there was a cholera outbreak in the camp, it would be over.
The priests came on stage at this time. They still had some credibility among the victims, so they asked everyone to wait.
A knight walked to the pot and threw a small fireball the size of a table tennis ball into the pot. He stirred it a few times with a spoon. After a while, the water in the pot boiled.
Although there was a burnt smell in this pot of multigrain steamed bun soup, the victims couldn't care less. It would be nice to have something to eat and drink.
This meal was not full for people who had been hungry for a long time, but it was still a serious meal of hot rice and soup, which gave many victims some energy.
After they had eaten, they were driven into another shed with only linen covering the sky and hay on the floor. This was where they rested and slept.
The priest pointed to the fenced-off area on both sides and said that was the toilet. If you go there to solve the problem, you will be hung up and beaten if you defecate in public.
Everyone sat numbly on the hay, wondering if they listened.
Hozhenpouloz carried old Mrs. Caspar onto the carriage, and left the temporary camp with the young monk and several victims with their children.
The eyes of the passengers on the carriage were dull. They got on the carriage when the priests told them to, and no one asked where they were going.
(End of this chapter)